Something smells a little fishy!!!

**** Editors Note - This is a massive blog ****

Although most of you won't have to go through the torture cheerfully known as Christmas shopping for many a month we had to do worry about ours a lot earlier this year. Due to the slow nature of the postal system we calculated that in order to arrive in Canada on time our gifts would need to be sent by September 5th at the latest.

Unfortunately, last month on our way to the store to buy all of your presents we came across a man selling magic kimchi, and, well....anyway lets just leave that embarrassing story behind us shall we?

We figured better late than never and left early Saturday morning for the coastal city of Busan to pick up a few gifts. Busan is Korea's second biggest city and is famous for its markets and shopping centres.

Being cheap or smart, depending how you look at, we decided to find the most inexpensive hotel possible.



It took us about 30 minutes to find our hotel as we wandered down dozens of narrow streets that looked exactly like this one. It seems that most Koreans don't worry about addresses too much as most streets aren't clearly named or indicated in any way.

Thankfully the "hotel" staff noticed the two waygooks walking back and forth and finally came to our rescue running after us.


This sign was beside our hotel and let me just say that nothing adds a star or two to a hotel rating like having a brothel on the 2nd floor. I still haven't been able to convince Jo that I didn't make the reservation because of the hotel's ...cough....special amenities.

Now this is what I'm talking about. Who hasn't dreamed about staying at a hotel that not only offers free roach spray but a used brush as well. Initially, I thought the hairy brush was the strangest thing on the table but after studying it a bit more I think that the rock or the spare metal knob might actually win. Of course, the odd hairspray, the strange green garbage can, and the phone that didn't work all have a place in my heart too.


Jo and I seem to have knack for good timing on our trips. We stumbled across that parade back in Japan and managed to do it again in Busan. We're not sure what this parade was exactly celebrating but it was very cool nonetheless. It was the first time we have seen traditional Korean clothing and costumes.

The cool looking dragon thingy was a novelty at first. I say at first, because at one point Jo managed to grab its attention and then proceeded to hold it for a long time. Haha, the guy posed for a picture and then actually held up the parade by flirting with her and continuing to just stare at her for several minutes.

Jo's a beautiful girl and it's not the first time that she's been hit on in Korea but it was the first time that I almost got into a fight with a dragon/lion thingy because of it.

(Another shot of the cool looking costumes)

.
Busan is divided between the new world and the old. Half of the shopping district is filled with streets like the one above: Littered with every brand name possible and designed in a way to make them appear as western as any shopping complex in Canada or Europe.


One strange thing about the area is that basically all of the different type of stores are located right beside each other in their own areas. There are blocks full of pet stores, import stores, clothing stores, children's stores, and stores that sell stores.

Hundreds of puppies line the windows of the pet store block and most of them melted our hearts like the little guys above. Dogs are really really cheap in Korea and every time we see one Jo has to take my wallet away. Which is probably a good thing or we would have had to sell our laptop by now to pay for all of the dog food.

If the shot above captured the new Busan this one captures the old. Hundreds of stalls selling everything imaginable for prices that are negotiable. The hard part was navigating between them as thousands of people rush past and scooters and cars wizz by with little thought to hitting you.

Although I knew how silk was made this was the first time that either of us have actually seen the process...on a random street corner. Nevertheless, it really made me appreciate all of my silk tuxedos that much more.



The crabs are very, very, very different then the ones back home. If you took western crabs, made them work out, and injected them with steroids this is what you would get.

Look at that picture, it looks like something from a cheesy horror flick, not something you should eat, let alone pay top dollar for.

Busan has the biggest fish market in Korea (and one of the biggest in the world - take that Harman and Jo) so we were really excited to see what crazy delicacies it had to offer.



What fish market wouldn't be complete without a table selling pig's feet? Thankfully after spotting this table we were able to finish all of our shopping, Merry Christmas everyone.

The Korean's believe that the heads of pigs bring good luck. I'm not sure about that but mmhmmm, they were pretty tasty (according to Jo). Joking aside, it was pretty strange to see these fellows smiling back at us.

The fish market was surprisingly difficult for me to walk through. The animal lover in me hated seeing all of the live fish and sea creatures in small tanks just waiting to die. Though, nothing was harder than seeing these sea turtles bound for a dinner table somewhere. They were a lot different looking then the turtles back home but I've always had a soft spot for the little guys after growing to like my sister's turtle back home.

Enough dried fish to last a life time. The best part is that they are just stored in cardboard boxes. Again, merry Christmas everyone. Make sure you clean out your cupboards and make some room.

This was a pretty common site. The ratio of fish to humans was about 1000 to 1. If these fish ever unionize we're in big trouble.



We had never seen large octopi in person before. They looked like they should be sinking ships or eating children somewhere.


Here's a shot of some stingrays drying in the sun. It's one of the few foods we haven't tried yet but one of these days the experience will be blogged.

Every time I look at this photo I'm reminded of the Crocodile Hunter. So, open a bottle of wine and join us in toasting the only man brave enough to wear kakis everyday and wrestle things that are as scary looking as these bad boys.


The little guy in the top right tried for a good 10 minutes to escape. Watching a boneless creature move was pretty cool. I haven't seemed someone squirm like that since Stephen Harper was invited to the Pride Parade.



After walking up and down the massive fish market we walked along the ocean and spotted the fleet responsible for all of the catches. Hmm I'm not sure I would trust these boats with my life as the Korean fishermen do. They look like something from the poor Canadian navy.

Anyway, we loved Busan and look forward to going back as soon as possible. We managed to buy all of the gifts we needed and still had a little money to sit in Starbucks and drink liquid pies.

You just gotta' love Korea.

Cheers

Shayne (and Jo)